High
times ahead for airships
POSTED: 1751 GMT (0151 HKT), February 2, 2007
By Dean Irvine for CNN
LONDON,
England
(CNN) -- At best you would probably associate airships with enormous
floating advertisements, at worst, the Hindenburg disaster, but what might
seem a form of transportation from another era is currently undergoing a
re-launch. From high-altitude surveillance to a hybrid luxury cruise
liner, our skies may soon be home to the next generation of multi-purpose
airship.
Traditional helium
blimps or airships seem slow and bumbling in comparison to modern jets and
seem to have little place in our world when time is of the essence. But
one independent company does not see them that way.
Worldwide
Aeros Corp. is developing a new vehicle. Called the Aeroscraft it is
unlike anything else in the sky, with a rigid structure and aerodynamic
designs that could provide luxury passenger travel and super-sized cargo
freighters of the future.
"We're
developing the Aeroscraft as a commercial vehicle, one that can carry
commercial cargo with point-to-point delivery," Edward Pevzner, business
development manager for Aeros Aeronautical Systems, told CNN.
As a concept, airships
seem perfect for the task of solving some heavy problems such as carrying
cargo to remote areas with little or no infrastructure.
They have
short take off and landing capabilities and so do not require a runway and
have the capacity to carry large amounts of equipments. This is thanks to
their design, which means bigger is better.
If an
airship's length is doubled, the surface area, and therefore the weight
goes up by four times, while its lifting capacity (volume) rises by eight.
While the theory is good in practice, there are problems with traditional
helium filled airships lifting heavy weights.
Unless
there is a form of ballast, an airship, traditionally lighter than air
because of the helium, is just going to be pulled down if it attempts to
haul goods up into its payload.
"There
have been plenty of models to deal with this problem, but nearly all are
completely unworkable. Ideas of using water, either jettisoning some or
taking more onboard, are really unworkable -- what if you're in a
land-locked country? Using ballast to manage an airship just gives you
more headaches than anything else," said Pevzner.
The
solution: the Aeroscraft, a heavier-than-air vehicle, unlike traditional
airships, with a revolutionary way to manage helium. The gas makes up only
70 percent of vehicle, and as well as providing the means to load and
unload heavy equipment it can be managed to react to outside conditions,
payload weight or even passenger movement inside.
Enormous
rear-mounted propellers provide the rest of the lift, maneuverability and
Pevzner estimates the top speed of these future monsters of the sky to be
around 140 mph.
It's a
far sight from the blimps floating over sporting events at a sedate 20
mph, and so different in its design that the U.S. Federal Aviation
Authority has classified it as a new type of airborne vehicle.
As a
concept super cruise liner, it would be able to hover over landmarks and
cities, offering incredible views. It would be a huge sight in the sky as
well -- Aeroscraft's biggest designs measure almost 200 meters in length
and could carry 500-ton payloads.
This is
the top scale size of the Aeroscraft and one that prompted the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency's interest with their "Walrus" program.
Their wish was for a 500-ton super-freighter that could deploy military
equipment and supplies to remote regions without the need for
infrastructure such as roads or airports. Their interest may have waned
for now, but the smaller model currently being developed is proving that
the concepts really work.
About
Aeros:
Aeros is the world's leading lighter-than-air, FAA-certified aircraft
manufacturing company. The company's operations involve the research,
development, production, operation and marketing of a complete family of
Aeros-branded air vehicles used in government and commercial applications.
These include non-rigid FAA Type Certified Aeros 40D Sky Dragon Airships,
Advanced Tethered Aerostatic Systems and New Type Rigid Air Vehicle -
Aeroscraft.
Contact:
Edward
Pevzner
Business Development Manager
Tel. 818 344-3999 x 106
Edward@AerosML.com
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